Apple's bigger 4.8in 'iPhone math' could look like this

This week, reports emerged from China suggesting that Apple is preparing to launch three new iPhones this year, including a bigger device with a 4.8in display, dubbed 'iPhone math'. The bigger iPhone could compete with rival smartphone makers' 'phablet' devices, such as Samsung's Galaxy Note range. The speculation has led Russian website Apple Digger to create a 3D rendering of the so-called 'iPhone math', to illustrate what the device could look like.

This week, reports emerged from China suggesting that Apple is preparing to launch three new iPhones this year, including a bigger device with a 4.8in display, dubbed 'iPhone math'. The bigger iPhone could compete with rival smartphone makers' 'phablet' devices, such as Samsung's Galaxy Note range. The speculation has led Russian website Apple Digger to create a 3D rendering of the so-called 'iPhone math', to illustrate what the device could look like.

Apple Digger's images show an iPhone with a design similar to the iPhone 5, with an aluminium back and central front-facing camera. The site expects that Apple would achieve the bigger screen by making the iPhone taller, as it did with the iPhone 5. This would allow a sixth row of icons to be displayed on the home screen.

Some rumours have suggested that Apple's next iPhone will be available in a variety of colours, so, in addition to the current black & slate and white & silver models, Apple Digger's concept also shows a green, blue and pink iPhone, taking design cues from the latest iPod touch.

While most, including us, believe that the name 'iPhone math' could be a codename or a mistranslation, the possibility of a larger iPhone cannot yet be ruled out completely.

In fact, this isn't the first we've heard about the possibility of an iPhone with a bigger display. Earlier this month, Topeka Capitals analyst Brian White said that the next iPhone could come in three sizes, including a smaller and larger model. Before that, Jefferies analyst Peter Misek had also predicted a bigger iPhone, after "several prototypes" were spotted "floating around".